Charges filed in KC double homicide

A Kansas City man has been charged with killing two people whose burned bodies were found in an abandoned van in Kansas City, Kan., in September.

Christopher A. Canagan was charged in Jackson County Circuit Court because authorities say he killed Dennis Smith and Linda Williams in Kansas City before taking the van containing their bodies across the state line and setting it on fire.

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Canagan, 29, has been in federal custody in an unrelated case since shortly after the killings.

Prosecutors charged him Friday with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, kidnapping and armed criminal action.

Smith, 24, was shot in the van while it was parked in the 4900 block of Woodland Avenue, according to court documents. Witnesses later told police that Williams, 22, ran from the vehicle, but Canagan caught her and forced her back inside.

When questioned by police, Canagan said that he had sex with Williams in the van and shot her when she tried to grab his .357-caliber handgun, court records say. After driving the van into Kansas, he poured gasoline in and around it before starting the fire, he told police. He said he then walked away.